Ch. 10: The Missing Journal Part 2

"Hey!Open up!"

"You'll be sorry for this doing this!"

"Val?" whispered Rosaline behind him with a trembling voice.

She was lowering her body to avoid the man's attention. Shivering and cold, she couldn't even move her ankles or to help him to open the door. "Is he still there?" 

Valentin didn't answer. He kept banging on the door and shouting out loud, grabbed the door handle and pulled it hard -- even kicking it harshly, to get nothing more than his body stumbling backward with a pain pulsing on his toes.

"Aargh!" He shouted.

"If I just -can -break this!"

Crashing his body against the thick metal door, his fist pounded on its glass layer, hoping that once it got broken, he could reach the knob handle and turn it around, but "Ouch!" He groaned. All he could get was another pain on his right arm. 

"Are you okay?" Rosaline reached out to him. "Your hands... they're hurt."

"It's okay."  Valentin took his arms back. Rosaline was blowing air into his fist.  "It's nothing. I'm okay."
 
"No. You should stop doing this! Don't you remember that Dad had made it so one else could break it? You'll only get yourself hurts."

 "I know." He grunted, pulling his hand away from her. He didn't need to be told again of how his father had designed the isolated room so well that he often called it a bunker, a place to hide from war or catastrophe. "Still- if I just can-"

"Hey! Let us go-" Valentin turned away and ran to the door, yelling out loud and shouting some of the words he had not spoken before or of which his mother had forbidden him to say. However, Rosaline was right. Even the room was designed to be a soundproof that no one -- not even the man-- could possibly hear them. Sweating a lot from all of his efforts, his body crumpled onto the floor, pressing his forehead against the thick metal door.

"Val..." Rosaline reached out to him. The tips of her fingers were only few inches away, but  this time... she hesitated. She pulled her shivering hand and turned her face away, trying to hide her fears or for dropping her tears.

 "I'm sorry." She cried quietly.

The silence lasted for a minute.

Soon, she saw him  standing up fiercely without shivering nor hesitation in his moves. Full of anger, he swung the last punch on the door and then turned around while loosening up his clenched fist that was starting to feel hurt. The despondency in his heart was lurking in that Rosaline could hear him taking a deep sigh.

"Val, don't worry. I'm sure we can get out of here safely." 

She stood beside him, peering at the walls and the ceilings, observing the room to find even a slight fissure that would help them get out of there. However, the room was too dark for her to see  and she could already determine that there's not even a slightest gap in there, but still... "There must be a way to get out of here." She said.
  
A big punch stabbed him over his chest as he heard this. There's no way that they could. There's not even a single vent in there. "I'm sorry, Rose. I've no idea that-" He bowed his head down, taking a deep sigh.

 "Don't think about it." Rosaline brushed the tip of his ring finger with hers. He could feel the coldness on her skin as their fingers met. 

"Rose, your hands... they're cold. "

He grasped them all to make them warm.

Turning his gaze to her, he  saw her putting a thin line of a smile on her face. 

She was looking down to the floor, staring wistfully, probably was thinking about everything that had happened to them.

 

The pale on her face was so obvious that he bowed his head again, feeling so guilty about it. 

"It's not your fault." She whispered, as though she knew what he was thinking of. "No one would have thought that this is going to happen."

Valentin glanced at her. "You're right, but  still I shouldn't have invited him. I'm such an idiot- stupid-"

"I could not even protect you," He thought.

Rosaline chuckled. "Yeah, an idiot whom I love so much." 

 

"What ...what did you say?" He gazed at her dumbly.

 She turned around and observed him closely. "Should I repeat it again?"

"Val, I know you invited the man so we'll not end up in an orphanage, but this is not your fault. Both of us are still okay here and as long as we're still alive, there's always a hope.”

Valentin stared at her. "I-I guess you're right." He stuttered...and smiled. Hearing her and looking at her sincere smile had amazingly turned his mood 100%. The air became breathable again. The lights in her eyes sparkled. Her words had lightened the burden in his chest.

Still, looking back at that time, he wished he had not taken the rush decision and put her in such a great danger...

...even after four years had already passed by.

...even at a time when she had forgotten all about the incident.

The doctor told him that her memory lost would be temporary until something triggers it back. He was glad that she had only lost the memories about the happening on that Halloween night.

"What's this?" Valentin stopped as he saw something above the ground. A chill attacked his spine. The shiver brought him back to the present time and to the fact that he was still there inside the Celtic foray. A dry skeleton was lying on the ground, giving a warning to any intruders --including him-- to make a retreat and to leave the ruins alone or something bad would happen to them. 


A few inches next to it, laid a glimmering stone. It was a small white diamond, shimmering beautifully inside the dark and humid cave. It diverted his attention away from the skeleton that he could not even blink to seeing it glowing. 

"Diamond?" He picked it up with his shivering hands. After several blinks and gasps from his open mouth, everything became lucid again and made him release a very huge breath.

"Yay!" He jumped around in joy. "Thanks!" Without a second thought, he put the diamond in his pocket.

He rushed off forward, but before he left, he looked back at the skeleton, gazing at it solemnly and placing his right palm on his chest, giving the skeleton a last honor before carrying on his quest to seek for the mysterious object.

"My grieve is for you, Sir, Madame, whoever you are. I'm going to take this one with me since we really need the money."
 
A joy burst out of his chest. His feet felt so light that he  could almost jumped around along the  cave. Whistling in joy, he suddenly stopped. The image of the man flashed upon his thoughts again, destroying all the good time he was having. Shutting his eyes, he shook his head several times. 

How could it be that a single glimpse could make him wondering the entire day? The man in the restaurant couldn't be the same man who had locked them inside the basement. If he was, he probably had stalked him along the way there and asked him again about the journal. Though, the man should have had known that asking him would be like flogging a dead horse, since he had no idea of the journal whereabouts. 

To that minute, Valentin had not seen a glimpse of it, nor his father had talked about it.  His father even locked himself inside the basement within the last few months before he died. If it wasn't that his mother often forced him to get out, Valentin would have rarely seen him. 

"Dad?"
 

Valentin was completely dumbfounded when he saw his father's appearances. Beards were growing on his face. He got bags under his eyes. His face was pallid and it appeared that he was in a very dire state. It was also the first time when Valentin noticed that his father had grown more of grey hair. Even his body which usually appeared to be strong and healthy became thinner.

Helen, his mother, had not explained anything about it to him-- about the situation that had caused his father to be in such a miserable condition. Perhaps it was just his project that's making him concentrate on it even more? Still, Valentin had never seen his father in such a worse state before, no matter how urgent his father's projects were, at least... not until then.

Valentin stepped onward again. He stopped when he saw a tall gate before him, separating him with another section of the tomb. The gate was being locked with a chain around it. Next to it, there was a key panel on the wall with a shape of heart. He figured that by placing a key which has a same shape into it could eventually activate the chain to break itself. Strange, wasn't it? 

He looked into the map which Madame Fouchier had given him, "That's it!"  Looking around, he walked three steps to the right and started to dig down through some piles of rocks and sands. Underneath it, there's  a heart stone which appeared to be in a same shape and measure with the key panel he saw earlier. Quickly, he picked up the heart stone.

 It was quite heavy indeed, but he eventually managed to place the stone into the key hole.

 "And shall the door open itself!" He exclaimed...

... and it really did. The clink of the chain being broken proved it.

Celtic Foray was certainly an extraordinary place that even today's scientists are still trying to figure out the whole mechanism of the ancient tomb. There were hidden doors, deadly traps, and he wished he had been given nine lives, so he could get out of there safely.

Yet, the challenge to open the gate was easier compared to the time when he had to open the door which had locked them both inside the basement.

That time, Valentin took a deep breath and blew it violently while his hands were pulling off the door handle.

 He wasn't alone doing it.
  

 Rosaline was beside him. "On the count of three!" Valentin shouted. "One... two...three!!!"

They stopped when they heard footsteps descending the stairs and rushing toward them. "Did you hear that?" whispered Rosaline. "He's coming back."

They waited cautiously and had prepared a fight if in case the man came into the room. However, as soon as the man stood in a line with them,  the man immediately turned his back to them and stepped inside the library. 
 

The man grabbed a couple of books, flipped through the pages, and  then threw them away harshly.

 "Aargh" He shouted.
  

With an angry face, the man stepped outside. 


He later on came back with a sack in his hand. The sack was made from winding sheet and seemed to be fully loaded with something. 

"What is he doing in there, Val?"
 
"I don't know." Valentin shrugged, looking intently to the library through the  door pane. "He's taking out something from a sack."
 
Valentin turned around to check on Rose, but when he returned to the door, he jumped and bounced backward.

 "Whoooaa!!!"

The man was spooking them through the door pane, grinning and showing off his yellowish teeth.

"He's crazy!" Valentin turned away from the door, holding his chest. The air began to decrease.
"What does he want, Val?"
"I don't know. He wants Dad's journal."
"Do you know where it is?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything about it. Dad had never spoken about it and I guess he didn't tell you, either."
Rosaline bowed her head, trying to figure out everything that had happened... about the man... the journal. "I hope he'll never find it. I think he has a bad intention with it. It must be worth a lot for him and he'll do something wrong with whatever it is being written on the journal."
"I thought so. Dad probably has written something important on it, but what is it really?"

Valentin pressed his palm against the edge of the door. Gazing outside through the door pane, he scratched his chin and frowned.

"I know this could have been worse, but if only I could find something to help us-"

"That's it!" His face turned brighter. His forefinger pointed up into the air, "How could I have forgotten it?

 
"What is it, Val? You have an idea?"

"I think, Rose. Do you remember when I got trapped after we played hide and seek here ?"

"Yes, I remember. You were trapped here for almost like three hours or so, and then Dad let you out-"

 "Yes, and that time he taught me how to open this door without the key. Now, if we just could find something like a wire or needle-"

 "Wait!" 

Rosaline scurried off to a desk and poked about in the drawer. After a second, she pulled something out of  it. "I think this will do." She said, handing him a paper clip.

 
"You're a genius, Rose!" 

Valentin took the paper clip, and then bowed down to get a clearer vision of the keyhole. 

He straightened the clip and bent a very small loop that would fit easily into the hole. After several times of turning it around, it finally worked. He pulled the door slightly to open it.

"Rose." He held her arms. "Listen! We're going out. If the man sees us, I will distract him, and you should run, Rose! Run and don't look back!"

"But ...   I don't want to leave you, Val! We can run together."

"No, Rose! It's okay. We  will do it if the worst case happens. One of us should find help. Don't worry, I'm going to be okay. I promise. You have my words on it."

Valentin held her left arm and opened the door as quietly as he could. "I know you can do it, Rose. Run as quickly as you can and don't turn around!"

Rosaline heavily nodded. She pursed her lips and furrowed  while clenching her shivering hands. Her mouth whispered a prayer before they  reached outside.

 Finally, with a low squeak of the door being closed behind them, Valentin glanced at his right and left. The area was safe and clear. He thought that it would be okay for them to leave. However, before they could go onward, a splash of light came into the darkness. 

It was a figure of a woman he knew so well.

"Mom?" He shook his head. The image soon disappeared as he turned his gaze back at it.

"What is it?"

 "Nothing." He said, holding her tighter. "Come on! Let's go, Rose!"

 They tiptoed along the dark corridor, avoiding any chance of the man could hear them leaving. Rosaline suddenly stopped when they almost reached the stairs.

"Wait! I think I heard something."
   
"No." Valentin pulled her arm.  "It's probably nothing.  Come on! We should hurry."

 They reached the upper floor, but...  Rosaline's feeling was right. The man was standing inside the living room, confronting them with a fierce look. 

"How did you two get out of there?" said the man, blocking their way. 

To Be Continued to Part 3...